TOKYO, JAPAN -- Leadership from the USA Rice Council and the USA Rice International Promotion Committee came here last week for the International Promotion Planning Conference, to develop a proposed budget for USA Rice’s 2025 international marketing activities funded by the Market Access Program (MAP), Foreign Market Development program (FMD) and Regional Agricultural Promotion Program (RAPP).
Staff from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service’s (FAS) Office of Agricultural Affairs (OAA) and Agricultural Trade Office (ATO) discussed the Japanese market with the group, highlighting the strong trading relationship between the U.S. and Japan. The U.S. is Japan’s largest agriculture and agricultural products supplier and Japan is the United States’ fourth largest market for ag exports. Japan imports 62 percent of their caloric needs.
The group also spent time visiting the local trade, including the two largest rice wholesalers (Shinmei and Kitoku) and the rice wholesalers organization (Zenbeihan). Attendees and OAA also met with Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) to discuss the status of Japan’s rice tenders, where the U.S. was awarded more than 60,000 MT of the 100,000 MT simultaneous-buy-sell tenders, and to hear about projected California rice production for 2025.
“We couldn’t have picked a better time to come to Japan as the demand for rice here is high,” said Steve Vargas, chair of the USA Rice International Promotion Committee. “With the influx of RAPP funds, we plan to capitalize on this opportune time and expand promotions in one of our largest export markets for rice.”
The average age of a Japanese farmer is 69 and local rice production in Japan was lower than expected; this coupled with low stock levels and higher demand has caused the price of rice here to increase 70 percent from a year ago and the highest level since 2000.
The planning conference concluded with approval of country-specific strategies and budgets for the coming year which will be presented to the full USA Rice International Promotion Committee for their consideration.